Naruto: overrated
On a personal note, I'm biased in favor of The Forest from Mononoke Hime and Yubaba's Bathhouse from Spirited Away.
How was your time there?
Thanks, gonna watch it!
Quick, it's starting!
Loved it. Loved the food, loved the people, loved the culture. Only had like 8 days though and tried to cover Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto in that time. Needed longer really.
Awesome! I'd love to visit one day. I'm glad you had a good time anyway. Any stand out things you enjoyed most whilst there? Food, places to visit, etc..
Can I ask what sort of budget you're looking at for 8 days there?
Favourite city was Kyoto, stand out was the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. There’s also a whole bunch of very memorable shrines to visit there. For nightlife, Tokyo is best. Just walking around in Shinjuku in the evening is an experience. For food, having sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market is a must. Also had amazing wagyu at the Osaka Hilton - that was my best meal but very expensive (over £100 a head).
A big one! Tbf, I went with my brother in law who pretty much paid for everything. I would say around £1,000 for 8 days, not including flights and hotels.
Hard to guage it so early on, I'd say watch until the Zoldyck arc finishes (around 27 episodes in), and if you aren't feeling it by that point then don't continue it.
The trick to watching anime (and having a semi-enjoyable time) is to think of the activity as no different than reading a book or watching a non-animated show (more normalized entertainment pursuits) — that's the biggest stumbling block for newbie watchers who're acutely aware of the stigma surrounding grownup weirdos that watch “cartoons” and let it color their fun-time. Really, the only significant difference between the three is how the story is conveyed: art/words/motion-picture photography. Even though most of the mainstream focuses quite heavily on the teenage male viewer-base, the anime medium has a fair bit of depth — even for more mature viewers, so it's not about a constricted subject matter or premise in particular (rendering the what are they about bit moot), and caters to just about every taste (suspense/thriller, hack-and-slash, fantasy, western, mecha, romance, day-to-day slice of life, adventure, horror, trope heavy shōnen, Sci-Fi, comedy, supernatural, and so forth). Guess that's what the fascination with anime is all about: variety is the spice of life and it's just an alternative (and historically non-traditional) source of entertainment.
Thanks. I'd love to watch something with depth. I remember I had a couple male teenage friends who was into anime, how does it specifically target that base? It sounds like a turnoff for me especially now, since it didn't interest me back then even. Is it that the characters are kids?
Yes, partly — a lot of the characters are kids because it makes for a more immersive experience. But also, the themes and plots and characterizations for the most popular and most profitable mainstream anime genre (shōnen: which literally means boy in Japanese) resonate strongly with the teenage demographic. Though again, just because they're the primarily target audience doesn't mean the shōnen genre can't appeal to older viewers. Just like The Lord of the Rings has timeless appeal across all age demographics, even though it was mostly a fantasy tale for children and young adults:
Umm...could you expand on that? It's just...I don't quite understand what “wise” means in the context of anime — are you looking for enlightenment or self-help? Along the lines of Hesse? Aurelius? Balzac? Carnegie? If so, then no, I don't have any recommendations.
No, not directly. I mean in the context of anime i know nothing, so I'm talking more about the way some stories are told with levels to them. I figured there had to be some that were a bit more layered like that. Like, i enjoy to watch something with entertainment value that also have enough in it to maybe get something else out of it. If that makes sense
I liked the beginning - Hunter exam, Tournament arc and Yorknew. It really picks up when they begin the exam so I'd recommend at least carrying on for a few more eps. After that, well, I don't want to spoil anything for you if you do decide to carry on, but I lost interest for a specific reason.
Alright, I think I get what you mean now — you want something that's a bit more substantial than just mindless cartoon-ish entertainment, right?
First thing I did after I watched Nausicaa for the first time was Google ‘Was Nausicaa naked?’
Did exactly the same
